In accordance with conventional phone system technology, each phone device in a respective network is assigned a unique phone number. As is well known, to place a call to a target phone device, a phone user dials the phone number assigned to the target phone device using his own phone. The phone service provider receives the call request from the calling party and initiates a call alert in the phone network to the target phone device.
During the call alert, the target phone typically rings to indicate occurrence of an incoming call. If the target phone device goes unanswered, the calling party may end the attempt to reach the target phone device or the caller alert period (e.g., time when target phone rings) may time out. If the user of the target phone device accepts the incoming call (i.e., answers the phone), a two-way communication link is established between the calling party and target phone device.
In certain instances, the target phone device called by a user is operated by a business. In earlier days, when a phone user called a business, a human phone operator would redirect the call to an appropriate party within the business.
Conventional phone systems have been modified to include so-called IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology. In accordance with IVR technology, the calling party typically provides input via pressing buttons on the phone or speaking a command into a phone. The IVR system receives the input over the call connection and converts the received input into one or more commands that are subsequently executed to carry out a respective local operation as specified by the received input. In certain instances, the IVR system includes resources to automatically execute the one or more commands, eliminating the need for a human phone operator.